Mickey Z

Cool Observer

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Zezima's Eleven, Antigone Rising, and the price of fame

Posted by Mickey Z on 05/19 at 07:41 AM

Happy Anniversary Mickey, I hope your Mom is doing ok.

How did you feel when Amazon started carrying your book?

Peace and love,

Posted by Luna_C on from 05/19 at 10:38 AM

Mickey,

Just one of those cats who just couldn’t resist informing you about AR’s latest move to the big leagues a while back… But actually, my thoughts on the matter of “selling out” have been fairly consistent with that of Tom Morello, former Rage Against The Machine guitarist, who once said:

"When you live in a capitalist society, the currency of the dissemination of information goes through capitalistic channels. Would Noam Chomsky object to his works being sold at Barnes & Noble? No, because that’s where people buy their books. We’re not interested in preaching to just the converted. It’s great to play abandoned squats run by anarchists, but it’s also great to be able to reach people with a revolutionary message, people from Granada Hills to Stuttgart."
Right-on (if you ask me...) But then again, everybody has different interests, and some may also want complete control of not just the music itself, but also the mixing, engineering, etc. Others go even further with the “DIY” ethic: the marketing, promotion, accounting, and so on. At that point, you’re really just a businessman or salesman; a capitalist… So, which is worse? Again, I think it’s a judgement call on the issue of how far one is willing to compromise…

Anyway, an up-and-coming band such as AR signing a major record deal (and I am actually glad for them too, btw) is far different than someone like Dylan, who recently stooped to new levels of absurdity by doing Victoria Secret ads, if you see my point. (Bob!! come back!!! I’ll get a hat and pass it around for you!!) Secondly, if AR can maintain artistic control over their music, then even better. I heard some AR mp3 samples a while back; good hooks, fresh sound. I look forward to buying the album.

P.S. - On matters on females who rock: had a chance to check out Michelle Malone yet?

Posted by RT Griffith on from Houston, Texass 05/19 at 10:50 AM

In a corporate capitalist society, how can an artist (and/or activist) attain success, reach a wider audience, and perhaps inspire others to work for a better world...without some compromise?

Can’t be done. The saintliest people I know try to create spaces where people can get a respite from various ills and they’re engaged in a constant balancing act. The measure of morality here becomes one of admitting it if and when you go too far over, taking counsel and working to make amends.

And does that compromise automatically reduce the value or purity of one’s art?

Unfortuntately yes, it does. There is no absolutely clean gift to the world. There is cleaner, better and wiser. Books come on paper, words appear on cathode ray tubes powered by polluting plants and guitars have smelted metal. Once again, it’s a balancing act.

A lot of smart, good people jumped on the ABB bandwagon a while back. I still think highly of them, but my respect for their judgement is diminished. It’s a minor tragedy, relatively speaking, and an error on their part, not deliberate wickedness.

Posted by Harry on from 05/19 at 11:31 AM

<<<Does the end justify the means? If you could reach a wider audience by signing with Starbuck’s, would you do it?>>>

naah.

the way i figure, the stuff i write is hard enough to understand. as it is, i have very little chance of communicating with readers or listeners even when i’m in full control of the signifiers. if i slapped a starbucks logo on it, that would be so incongruous and weird that there would be *no* way for anybody to understand it. i do not flatter myself to think i am more powerful than their marketing machine is.

i guess i would do it if i really needed the money. but i’d have to *really* need the money.

tris

Posted by tris mccall on from grand street, jersey city 05/19 at 03:42 PM

Mickey, about your conundrum. It doesn’t seem like much of a problem to me. My thoughts are that if you can get your message out with the help of a corrupt corporation, why not. I would NOT change one word to accommodate them but good books should be available everywhere. The more places that your book can be available, the better. If the White House wanted to make your book available to the staff, not that that is very likely, would you object? It seems to me that the reason for writing is to inform, and that means that your work should be seen as many places as possible...as long as you never change the message to please the audience......Have a good flight to Texas. A lot of people are thinking about your Mom.

Posted by rosemarie jackowski on from 05/19 at 07:07 PM

Thought-provoking stuff...but let me clarify: No multi-national has asked to publish or sponsor my work. This post was inspired by the band I mentioned.

Luna: When my first book was published (2000), I didn’t even have an Internet connection, so Amazon meant close to nothing to me. Over time, I looked at it as Rosemarie (or Tom Morello) does. See above.

RT: Still haven’t bought a Malone CD. Eventually.

Harry: I agree...but the purity I meant was more of the artistic variety.

Tris: Welcome to the site. I suggest everyone check out: http://www.trismccall.net.

Rosemarie: I’m with you. Even as a vegan, I’d be tempted to see my new book sold in Burger King. How else could I possibly reach such an audience?

Thanks again for your good wishes and for taking time share your thoughts.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 05/19 at 07:31 PM

the disinformation site is edited by “alex”, who is a self-admitted temple of setian, the spin-off of anton lavey’s church of satan

as an example, albert pike, masonic founder of the ku klux klan and the only confederate general with a statue still standing in “chocolate city”, washington dc, was a devout luciferian, and is buried underneath the staircase of freemasons’ temple of southern jurisdiction, located 13 blocks from the white house

considering that the american elite, or at least certain of its subgroups, are luciferian/satanic in the extreme, what difference does it make if you push your products at burger king or any other offal den additionally

aleister crowley was the original driving force that spawned rock and roll as a derivative of dionysian/bacchanalian ritualized orgy music, so it is good to see an all-female band working in this tradition...have any audiences gotten so worked up that they go into maenad mode and pull the heads off of live cattle...just think of how much burger king would love to capitalize on that for their meat-loving customer core

Posted by skulluminatus on from 05/20 at 09:15 AM

disinformation uses a smiling demon girl logo...would mickey know if there was an actual model for metzger, disinformation’s supposed owner?

the american consumer would no doubt swarm any venue that could provide such damned eye-candy

maybe a deviled version of the “wall of vagina” act that appeared at the disinfocon affair

Posted by skulluminatus on from 05/20 at 09:29 AM